“Hear from heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.” – 2 Chronicles 6:33
Solomon’s prayer, as he dedicated the temple, expressed God’s heart for the nations of the world. Everything God did to show love and favor for Israel had a bigger purpose. It was never just about Israel. God chose Israel, preserved Israel, freed Israel, covenanted with Israel, dwelled with Israel, gave them a land, and sent prophets to them for centuries so that they would reveal Him and His nature to the entire world. What God did for and with Israel was meant to show the world that there is one true, living God. Through Israel, God revealed that He is gracious, merciful, patient, faithful, loving, and just. He is real, powerful, knowledge, and wise. He cares about mankind because He created mankind and because He cares about mankind, He intervenes in this world.
Israel was to be a light to the world, a kingdom of priests, and a living testimony so that all the ethnic peoples of the world would come to know, believe, and worship God. This was God’s revealed heart from the earliest parts of Genesis onward. To draw to Himself a new people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. Solomon’s temple, with all its splendor, was just another part of that ongoing revelation of God to those far from Him. It was, and is, God’s mission.
God’s work and will for reaching the unreached continues to this day. Now we call it The Great Commission, referring to the repeated command of the Risen Jesus to make disciples of all nations. Followers of Jesus are to preach good news all over the world, to go, baptize, and teach people to follow Jesus. We are to minister, love, care for, and instill hope in Jesus Christ. The ancient work of revealing God to those who were made by Him but don’t know Him is now our responsibility for as long as we walk the earth. It is the mission of the church and should be the mission of every church. It’s the God-given task of every follower of Jesus and it’s your task. We all have a role to play in accomplishing God’s will and spreading the good news of His steadfast love and Christ’s life, sacrificial death, resurrection, and reign. Continue Solomon’s work. Pursue God’s will. #FollowJesus